Swiftcurrent Creek Turning myself into a toothbrush

An ear flicked in the direction of the soft drawling voice, his tongue licking his chops roughly as his muzzle swung to her direction. His fiery eyes studied the she-wolf for a stolen moment, considering the girl before him—she had come to them a naive waife and had borne two puppies against their law. Chusi’s proclaimed lover had slipped away, and the Mayfair still wished to this day to sink his teeth into the hide of the man who had run from his children, leaving the girl alone to raise them. Alone, because she had accepted very little help from any of them.

She had been through her own hellish year, he assumed, and as he studied her, a light frown stormed across the roguish man’s features. “How do you do it, Chusi?” He paused, his tone a gentle rumble as he tried to keep the edge of defeat from his voice. “How do you stay so optimistic?”